Need a bath?

Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

I’ve been trying to convince my wife for the longest time that we should get a dog. Well… I just happened to get word that some neighbors of ours were giving some cute ones away so I conveniently scheduled a time to see them with the whole family. When my wife saw these cute little pup faces, she had to give in. So finally we have a new addition to our family, praise God!

As many of you know, my wife is very clean-conscious, so the very first thing we had to do when we brought him home is give our little guy a bath. And as you can imagine, he wasn’t liking this idea at all. The water — the shampoo — he fought tooth and nail. He didn’t understand the fact that he’d been living out in a dirty yard for eight weeks and was full of fleas and other critters as a result. He couldn’t believe that this bath was actually for his benefit. Yet it had to be done.

So it is with us. Unfortunately, we live in a dirty world, full of critters. And the Lord wants us clean. He wants us to stop being so busy scratching and itching so that we can do what we’re called to do — cuddle — love on someone, make them smile! The Lord allows us to go through trials and tribulations that we might be refined and cleansed and more fit to do great things for His Kingdom! We might not understand or even believe that this cleansing is for our benefit, yet it has to be done.

Don’t fight God’s purifying process — embrace it! God has great things ahead! And there’s sooo much work to be done!!!